Those that are left
by fysikflicka
Summary: Rose is slowly moving on after Doomsday, then her beloved Doctor returns.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first Doctor Who fic so critique nicely. This is a reunion fic so hence a 10Rose.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, sadly.

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Rose walked down the brightly lit hallway of Torchwood; she had walked this hallway towards her intended destination every Thursday for the past year and a half, ever since she had been told. She thought back on that day when her father, Pete Tyler, had causally mentioned that Mickey's girlfriend, Charlotte, was the one who was the creator of the multidimensional transporters. The comment had come months after Charlotte's momentous return, with nothing being said to Rose who in the two years preceding had allocated a good portion of her research team to finding either a way or a person who had a way to get back to the Doctor. And there was Charlotte right under her nose for months, no one saying anything. Mickey swore he had mentioned it, but even he seemed unconvinced at his lie. Rose approached the door that she had become so accustomed to seeing, today it was closed. Never in all the years had Charlotte's door been closed. Rose stood there racking her brain for what to do, should she stand and wait till Charlotte popped her head out to see if Rose was coming, should she just open it, should she walk down the hall to see if Charlotte was in her lab or in the bathroom. Rose stood there, unmoving; was this a sign that she had found something, had Charlotte figured it out, did she find that it couldn't be done, did she find that she could get him back and he'd be here on the noon train from Liverpool. Rose knocked on the door. A voice from within called out much louder than it needed to. 

"Who is it?" Rose stood there too afraid to answer; if she did she might have to give up hope.

"It's Rose." 

"Come in." The voice didn't sound either hopeful nor as though it was about to crush all Rose's dreams. Rose opened the door; the comforting space that was Charlotte's office greeted her. Charlotte's office was smaller, than Rose's and on a lower floor making it somehow less desirable, but Rose had always felt that it was the superior of the two. The large floor to ceiling windows allowed the sun to pour in to the office, Rose had always wondered why Charlotte's office always seemed to be uncommonly sunny when compared to all the other offices in the building but had never come up with a 

definitive answer. The white walls were somehow less harsh in this office compare to all the others, Rose doubted that they were a different color, and chalked it up to just an anomaly of the room. Charlotte was on the phone, and from the looks of it she had been there for quite awhile, Rose moved farther into the room looking at its inviting interior. Most of the Torchwood employees decorated their office spaces, since they spent such a large amount of time in them; Rose's own office was a rather comforting place despite the fact that she still felt it was institutional. Rose occupied her time by looking at the various knick knacks that Charlotte had on the shelves by the door. Rose had seen them in passing noting a few pictures, odd looking objects, the stray file or folder but she had never gotten a good view of them. She saw the picture of Mickey and their dog both sitting like bums after a long run, Mickey hated this picture but Rose knew that it was one of Charlotte's favorites claiming that it was his true nature coming out. Another of Charlotte and Mickey on a vacation of the most recent holiday, another of Charlotte and her nephew, Oliver, next to it was a picture that he had drawn for her. Rose noted that Oliver's drawing ability was greater than that of Lily's, Rose's little sister, but then again there was an age difference of two years. She continued down the shelf till she saw it, she hadn't seen one in years, not since she had traveled with him. It was different but still the same basic design. The instrument looked so insignificant just lying there on the shelf as though it was so common place to find them, and that anyone could have picked one up at the market on their way home. The surface was vastly different than that of the one Rose had seen all those years ago, it looked like it was glass not metal, the tracks where one would run their fingers seem less transparent than the rest of it. Before Rose knew what she was doing she had picked it up, almost immediately she noticed that something was wrong the instrument had changed from its earthy green color to the most beautiful red, the finger tracks had also begun to change color, the weight of it changed to something closer to air, and the cool glass began to heat Rose's hand, she was about to play a note when Charlotte's voice broke the silence in her head.

"You come every week Rose, and every week it's always the same thing. What keeps you coming back?" There was a pause in which Rose tried to explain her reasoning to herself trying not to sound foolish in front of Charlotte, but Charlotte continued on. "If I were you, I think I would have moved on with life long ago, so long ago that he would have been the most distant thought from my mind." Charlotte's eyes were fixed upon Rose and she could feel them burning into her skin. Rose put down the little instrument and turn to face Charlotte. Her brown eyes still fixed on Rose as though if she took them off Rose would disappear into another world. Rose could see what had first attracted Mickey to Charlotte, she was pretty though not enough that would launch a thousand ships. Her hair fell right to her shoulders, a light brown specked with cooper and gold high lights that looked to Rose, either extremely expensive to maintain or completely natural. Her eyes, her most defining feature of her face, were large and bright they shown in the sun and Rose had noticed that over the years they changed from day to day depending on the weather or how Charlotte what feeling; her face was soft the dusting of pink on her cheeks made her look younger than she actually was and Rose wonder if she was mistaken for some one much younger than what she was. She was soft in personality, Rose had never heard her raise her voice in anger to anyone not even the dog, she often kept her emotions off her face, though today it looked, to Rose, as if she had been hardened by something that she never spoke to anyone about, something that ate away at her, Rose had seen that look before it was a look that she knew all to well; but yet she couldn't pin point who the look had come from.

"I can't do that to him. I have to hope that there is still someway we can see each other one last time before I give up." The tone of Rose's voice surprised even her; it wasn't strong as she had intended it to be but weak and frail as though even she didn't believe her own words.

"Sometimes it's better to just move on. There's no use living in the past. Why don't you do something that he couldn't do, like live a life." Rose had heard this before, never from Charlotte but 

every time it was said she became so angered that she would blow up in anyone's face. But today Rose almost felt that Charlotte was right. She had lived in this world for the past four years, and what other than her job did she have to show for it; she had had not had any serious boyfriends, she hardly had a life out side of Torchwood, she still lived at home with her mother, the most excitement she had had in the past month was when she skipped work to take Lily to the zoo. Charlotte continued to watch Rose, Rose not daring to make eye contact. She left the room without a word, just left; she walked back down the hallway toward the elevators, towards her office, towards some semblance of a life. Charlotte's words though few and heard so often, cut her to the core. Who was she without the Doctor, was she anything anymore, or had what Rose considered her self to be died that day at Bad Wolf Bay.

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I know that Rose it a little sad and pathetic in this but she'll perk up if you understand what I'm hinting at (if not go and read the second sentence of my note). Hope you enjoyed next chapter up soon. 


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it took so long. I know this is a bit long but I don't want to split it in the middle 'cause the first part isn't that important to the story it just sort of gives a bit of background. tell me what you think do you like the writing style, the idea, what ever you like (please no flames). You could probably guess the bit at the end, or at least part of it. Yes, the Doctor returns in this chapter. I'm thinking of adding Jake in as more than just a 'there' character, tell me what you think (like it?, hate it ?). I don't own anything but Charlotte and Lily (though it is a very popular name for the baby).

enjoy Janey

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"Which color do you like better?" Rose turned to face Charlotte, who was sitting in the only chair in the whole flat starring at a rather depressingly white wall, the two colors that Rose was gestureing towards the only spots of color in the entire flat. Charlotte had her feet dangling over the arm of the chair a glass, or rather a party cup, of red wine in her hand. She pointed at the color to the left of Rose mumbling through a mouth full of pizza, before swallowing and finishing her sentence as though Rose had heard it all.

"… if you're going for that look." Charlotte smiled. "You didn't get any of that did you?" Rose shook her head. "I said that I like the one of the left, it gives more of a warm feeling but if you're going for that sort of light and airier feeling than I would go for the one on the right." Rose stood back and starred at the two colors.

"Well, I really like this one when the sun comes in the windows, but that one I think would go with the other colors in the rest of the flat." Rose cocked her head to the side, for this was the only way to truly see what color would look the best on the wall. "Oh, I don't know. How did you and Mickey pick colors? Is there a method?"

" Well he wanted to throw paint chips up on to a glue covered wall and see which one stayed up longest, but I told him he'd be the on who had to scrape the glue off before we painted so he dropped it, other than that I don't think there is much of a method. Was your mum any help?"

"She and Lily pick out those colors, but I don't think I'll use any of them really." Charlotte extracted herself from the chair rather slowly before making her way over to the paint chips that Rose had pointed to. Rose continued to consider the two blobs of color in front of her. She hadn't ever had this much trouble picking out paint colors before, then again she had only ever picked out one paint color in her life which was when she was six and it wasn't that hard of a decision she had wanted pink so she had 

gotten pink. Even at her father's house she hadn't redone the room, just chosen the room that she didn't hate as much as any of the others. But here she was in her own flat, she had had enough money long ago to buy one but it was what Charlotte had said to her that day, months ago that had caused her to reevaluate what she was doing with her life. She couldn't wait forever for the Doctor, sure she still went every week to ask Charlotte if she'd had any break through but then she and Charlotte would go to coffee or she would go to lunch with another friend. Friends; for so long Rose had only had Mickey and by extension Charlotte, who had surprisingly become a very close friend even though Rose was mildly uneasy around her. Rose had found the parallel friends she had once had; Shireen was quite different than the one Rose known as a teen. Here she was a good student, her parents weren't divorced and she been in a committed relationship for the past three years; Rose was happy for her even though it was a different Shireen, one that hadn't ever known what it was like to sleep outside, have her mother beat her, or have to worry about whether or not her boyfriend was sleep around and should she get tested for an STD. This Shireen had never known any of that pain, making the relationship hard for Rose to get use to. Mickey had told her it was hard to see the people that he had once been friends with walk right by him, but it was harder to try and get the same closeness to them that he had once had, because it wasn't there, it would never be there. All the people here were different they weren't those that she left behind. Rose in the past months had grown even closer to those friends she had at Torchwood. Sure, she trusted them with her life in if the situation warranted it but now she also would go out for a drink with them, something that she had never done before. Then there was her friendship with Charlotte, she never would have called it that before but now they actually friends. Before they were what Rose would called acquaintances, they were civil to each other but neither knew where they stood with the other, and neither had bothered to find their footing, Mickey had tried his hardest but had stop once the two knew each other never thinking about it again. Rose drew her attention away from the colors on the wall and focused on Charlotte who had a disgusted look on her face, paint chips in her hand.

"They're all pink!" Rose walk toward Charlotte, who as proof of her discovery fanned the chips showing Rose the different hues of pink that her mother had pick out.

"What did you expect they were all chosen by either my mum or a three year old?"

"But I would have thought your mum could have picked another color other than pink. I mean pink walls in a grown woman's living room, I've never hear of such a thing. I can't even imagine what her bedroom looks like, probably all rainbows, sunshine, and ponies." Rose snorted with laughter in to her cup. There was a knock at the door and Mickey's voice could be heard reaching around the empty rooms in the flat.

"Rose, Charlotte? Are you here? Charlotte?"

"Mickey we're in the living room." Mickey's head was just visible as he poked it around the corner of the doorway, before allowing the rest of his body to follow, a smile growing on his face as he entered.

"There are my two favorite women in all the worlds." He walked over to Charlotte giving her a small kiss on the lips, as she was still engrossed in the color chips. Smiling at Rose he gave her a peek on the cheek and then looked at the blank wall. "You girls pick a color yet? It's been almost five days, you have to have made some head way?" The two colors starred emotionlessly back at him.

"We've got it down to these two. Which do you like the best?" Rose's eyes darted between Mickey, the wall and Charlotte, still searching through the paint chips. Mickey by far was the most interesting of the subjects, he was tilting his head from left to right moving backwards and forwards, and bending down and standing on his tip toes all the while not taking his eyes off the wall in front of him.

"It's a joke right? You wanted to see if I could figure it out, right?" He looked over at Rose, the confused look on her face. "Aren't they the same color?" Rose shock her head.

"Mickey, what do you think about this color for the kitchen?" Charlotte held up the chip in question.

"Oh no, I am not painting that bloody kitchen again. I've already painted it five times in the past year, I'm not painting it again until it starts peeling off the wall." Charlotte looked at him with sad eyes, tears forming threatening to pour out over her lower lids. Rose knew that if Mickey had decorated the house that he and Charlotte shared it would rather like the flat he had had back in the Powell Estates, before she had taken it upon herself to bug him about decorations. Mickey had changed a lot since then, he wasn't the boy who grabbed on to whatever's passing, and holds on while the worlds passing him by, he had twice the courage he ever had when working with the Doctor and he knew what he wanted and he took it. Rose continued to watch the couple, they were sweet, a little odd but sweet; Rose had always thought that Mickey needed a woman who told him what to do and though Charlotte did that, Mickey was rather insistent when he wanted something a certain way, a trait that Rose herself had never experienced. Jake had told Rose that before her return Mickey and Charlotte had dated for quite awhile and that when Charlotte's sister-in-law died she had left Mickey. Apparently he was completely inconsolable, he would take every break to drive out to see her to try and convince her to come back to London. Charlotte's devotion to her brother, James, was something of a mystery to Rose; of course she understood why Charlotte would leave for a few months, but from how Jake told the story and the reception that Charlotte got from Mickey upon her return, Rose gathered that she had been gone for years. Charlotte and Mickey had been incredibly awkward around each other for the first few months of her return, but Rose remember the day that she had caught Mickey holding Charlotte's hand during a meeting and the next thing she knew Mickey was moving in with Charlotte. Rose drew her attention away from the lovers who had obviously settled their tiff and were now talking in hushed voices about something with their heads just touching. Mickey pulled his head away from Charlotte's, breaking the relative silence. "Well you ready to go home?" He looked down at Charlotte.

"When are you going to finish up the work on my car, huh?" Mickey gave Charlotte a sheepish look.

"This weekend, I'll finish it this weekend, Lo."

"I don't understand why you don't let me just take it to the mechanic. He could probably get it done in a day." Charlotte started moving towards the door Mickey following. Charlotte stopped in the hallway turning to Rose. "I'll come by tomorrow after work and see how it's going, okay?" she gave Rose a little hug and headed towards the door waving as she stepped outside. Mickey gave Rose a little hug as well and walked with her to the door, the three stood by the door separated by the threshold exchanging their goodbyes for a little while before trailing off and separating. Rose began closing the door when she felt a little resistance; Mickey pushed the door open a little peeking his head through.

"I liked the one on the left better."

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Rose pulled off the service road, and headed towards the collection of vehicles. Most of them she recognized as Torchwood vehicles though there was an odd one that she didn't recognize, she saw that her father's car along with Mickey and Jake's working van were among them. She pulled up next to a sliver Torchwood car and got out. There was a good number of people here, and most seem to be gathered around a makeshift control station, though there were a few that were scattered about in tiny groups. She saw three men walking towards her, when they were within range Rose saw that they were in fact, Mickey, Jake and her father in the middle. The expressions on their faces were not the ones that usually greeted her, they were blank devoid of all expressions.

"What is it? What's happened?" The tone of Rose's voice was carried away by the wind a few of the small groups looking up at the new member to their party. The three stoic men reached her, Mickey holding out a badge which she took and clipped to her shirt without asking. The men turned never saying a word Jake and Pete leading the way, leaving Mickey and Rose to follow. "Mickey, what's going on? They didn't tell me anything at Torchwood, what is it?" Rose couldn't peal her eyes off of Mickey, he wasn't looking at her, he didn't look at her not even when he began talking.

"Rose, we didn't tell you, because we didn't want to get your hopes up. We've been out here for about a month or so testing. Don't know why it has to happen here? But whatever the reason it works here, so here we are." Rose looked around, they were in an abandon Zeppelin field about 20 miles outside London there was nothing but a old chain link fence ravaged by the local youths for years and now only one side seem to remain about 50 meters in front of her. Other than that and the things Rose knew Torchwood had brought with them there was nothing. The grass was defying the old cement's presence straining through cracks and nestled in pot holes created by years of neglect; Rose looked back in the direction she was being led, toward the control station, towards the last person she thought would be here, Charlotte. Rose saw Charlotte direct a few of her research assistants around the field, all the while never taking her eyes off the monitor in front of her. Jake stopped a few feet away from where Charlotte stood, while Pete walked up right next to her, Mickey standing next to Jake, Pete said something to Charlotte that made her stop what she was doing before turning around to give Rose a small smile. Pete took a few steps back and gestured for Rose to take his place. Rose cautiously walked towards Charlotte, towards the console.

"Rose, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. It wasn't certain so why give you false hope?" From the small smile on Charlotte's face when she looked over at Rose, Rose could tell that there must have been a very confused look on her face. "We found a way, a way to get him back." The look on Charlotte's face 

was not one of disbelief as Rose had always thought it would be on this day, there was no relief or any sign of the emotions that Rose was experiencing at the moment, how was it possible for Charlotte not to even feel excited about it just a little. One of Charlotte's assistants leaned over to her; Charlotte silently nodded and began flicking switches on the control board. "Alright. Position one!" Charlotte directed her voice out into the field where the smaller groups of people were now scattering themselves, forming two rings around what Rose could see was a pad, a mat or some sort of platform out in the middle of the field. Mickey and Jake were amongst the inner ring of Torchwood members. "Alpha squad: report." Charlotte was speaking in to the air, Mickey's voice filled to the air around them and Rose knew that it was resonating out of the control station.

"In position."

"Beta squad: report."

"In position."

"Prepare yourselves for Hell on earth, and let's hope for a bunny, okay?" There were a number of laughs that not only drifted out of the console but reached Roses ear by the wind. "And Mickey?"

"Yeah?"

"Give 'em hell."

"You got it, Lo." Rose saw Charlotte inhale deeply, bit her lip and exhale, she turned to Rose. Her eyes asking Rose one last time if this was what she wanted, Rose nodded. Charlotte turned back to the console.

"Disengage safety field." There was a sound of air escaping. "Prepare yourself people; this might be a bit bumpy." Rose knew those words; she couldn't count the number of times he had told her it was 

going to be a bit bumpy, only to find herself flat on her back on the grating of the TARDIS. He was coming back, Her Doctor, coming back to her where they both belonged. Charlotte stared for a moment out into the field; she inhaled again, exhaling as she pressed a tiny little button on the console, not as dramatic as Rose thought it should be. The ground started to vibrate, and then as though the field had become a pool of water, a ripple was sent through it knocking Rose off her feet. Rose starred in disbelief at the spot in front of her where seconds before had been empty, now stood the blue wooden frame of the TARDIS, just how she had remembered it. She scrambled to her feet running towards the box, she didn't even notice that all of people who had been standing in rings now had guns pointed at the TARDIS, she could hear her father yelling at them all to put down their guns, to stand at ease. Running passed Mickey towards the box she felt his hand try to stop her but he couldn't, no one could have. Rose stopped feet from the front doors she reached out a hand pushing one open. Mickey had followed behind Rose protecting her even though she didn't need it; Pete was running to catch up with his daughter passing the first circle of people and closing in on the second. He saw the top half of Rose's body disappear only to be followed quickly by the bottom, Mickey step forward wanting to know where Rose had disappeared to only to have his question answered when both the Doctor and Rose emerged from the doors of the TARDIS. Her legs kicking up behind her as she was enveloped in a monumentous hug, the Doctor placed her back on the ground only to have his face brought down to her in a kiss that would make any romantic cry. The two didn't break from their lovers embrace for a few minutes, when the Doctor saw that they were not alone. He looked around the field, at Mickey, Pete, the Torchwood employees that all still had their guns ready at any moment.

"Well, this is a very interesting welcome." His voice laughing as he looked back down at Rose. Mickey raised his wrist to his face, his lips moved and Charlotte's voice could be heard over every intercom, telling everyone to stand down. The Doctor drew his eyes away from Rose, landing them on Mickey who smiled in response. "Mickey the Idiot, look at you in all official and … stuff." Mickey walked 

towards the Doctor and Rose extending his hand, the Doctor shook it and smiled at Pete who had joined their ranks shaking his hand as well, Rose the entire time never removing her arms from around the Doctor's chest. She had him back, her Doctor, and never would he leave her again. The four stood in the field oblivious to their surroundings for in the time that they spent together almost all of the Torchwood employees had left, a few remained packing up an equipment vehicle, others seemed to be waiting for something else Charlotte all the while directing them. "But how did you do it?" It was the question that at this point Rose didn't even need to ask, she didn't care how it had been done she was just happy that he was here with her now and the world didn't seem to be collapsing in upon its self. It was Mickey who answered the question not quite answering it completely but giving some sort of an explaination.

"It was Charlotte, she said she had a break through and now here you are."

"But you don't know how she did it?"

"No she wouldn't say." Mickey begun walking towards the place where the console unit had been, the rest of the group followed, the Doctor all the while looking around checking to make sure there was no tear in the Universe.

"So she just woke up one morning with all the answers?"

"Yeah pretty much, the night before she was saying how she couldn't stand to see Rose the way she was any longer so she had to stop it. I thought she was talking about stopping the research, but I guess I was wrong."

"But you shouldn't have this technology."

"It seems like you always say that, but we have it, Charlotte gave it too us."

"But the only sort of being that would have that sort of knowledge would be…" The Doctor stopped walking he stared at Mickey. "What did you say was her name?"

"Charlotte. Charlotte Moyer. Why? What does that have anything to with anything?" The Doctor turned his attention to the woman directing the remaining members of Torchwood around. She had changed since the last time they had met, so had he, that's what they did. The Doctor pushed out of the group walking quicker than they had before, he was almost at a run, leaving the group behind him confused. They got their bearings and followed him.

"Charlotte!" The Doctor called out her name just as he had done so many years ago, she turned to face him, her blowing across her face, she pushed it behind her ear and began walking towards him, quickly picking up her pace. The two reaching each other, the Doctor picking her up in a hug much different than the one he and Rose had shared. They spun a little because of their momentum both laughing as though they were still children. Rose, Mickey and Pete made their way to the two, who had slowed and were staring at one another. "How many years has it been?"

"At least 400, maybe more." The smile on Charlotte's face rivaled the one that Rose wore, she was beaming. The question crossed both Mickey and Rose' minds but it was Pete who voiced it.

"How do you two know each other?" Charlotte brought her eyes to meet Rose's then dropped them, her smile faded a little before she spoke.

"I know that I should have done this years ago but I didn't know if it was really what you needed or you just wanted it and didn't understand the possible problems that could arise. I'm so sorry Rose." Rose thought she knew what was going to come out of Charlotte's lips, that she and the Doctor were going to runaway, and leave both she and Mickey broken hearted. "I had to be absolutely positive, and trust me it was no picnic for me either, but if this was the only thing that can really make you happy I 

had to do it no matter the consequences. I brought the Doctor to fix your ills." Charlotte dropped the Doctor's hand; Mickey still had a disapproving look on his face.

"But you didn't answer the question, why are you two so happy to see each other, what are you lovers or…" Mickey couldn't bring himself to say the word 'married.' But his fears subsided when Charlotte laughed walking over to Mickey and hugging him.

"He's my brother, Mickey."


End file.
